I’m a huge fan of all things Yes and Yes related, so I anticipated liking this, and I was right. The performance is great. It’s cool to hear some Yes and Squire solo tunes that I’ve never heard in any kind of live performance before. This also includes a DVD of the performances, essentially a live concert in studio, I think. In addition to those there are some interview clips and other bits. This is well worth having.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2013  Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.

They waste no time as this powers out with the modern prog meets pop rock sound that is the Conspiracy album. It’s a cool rocker and a great way to start this in style. It definitely has a lot in common with Trevor Rabin era Yes, but it feels more modern than that.

Starting kind of sparse, this one is a lot mellower. It has a jazzy sort of texture to it. After the early sections, though, it powers out for the chorus for the wall of sound kind of Yes vibe. They drop it back after that, though. There are some cool shifts and changes on this thing and it’s hard to pin down to one style or another.

Now, this cut has that cool modern prog sound that was evidenced on Yes’ Open Your Eyes album. It’s a great cut and a lot of fun. It’s got plenty of trademark Yes like twists and turns and some killer bass work from Chris Squire. I really dig some of the keyboard sounds, too.

Coming in much slower and mellower, I love Squire’s vocals on this balladic cut. It’s evocative and quite powerful. Of course, this is a prog ballad, meaning it shifts and turns a bit and rocks out at times. I really dig the melodic guitar soloing on the jam later in the track.

Here’s a mid-tempo modern prog rocker that has all the trademarks of both Squire and Sherwood. It really feels like it could have made the OYE album.

I’ve always loved this Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood penned Yes song. Well, technically it was written as a Squire and Sherwood tune and ultimately released that way, but the first version ever available was on a Yes album (Union) so it's a Yes song in my book. It’s got a great dramatic element to it and some wonderful textures. The vocal arrangement is awesome, too. This live rendition holds up well against the studio version.

Here we get a medley of music from Squire’s Fish Out of Water album. I’ve always loved that album, so to finally hear some live stuff from it is a real treat. There’s a little more modern edge to the sound, but the performances are top-notch. This two-fer, along with the live take of “The More We Live” alone would be worth the price of admission here. I can’t imagine being able to praise this performance enough.

The set is closed with a live performance of a song from Yes’ Open Your Eyes album. This rendition is quite close to the studio rendition. That makes it a great tune as I’ve always liked the studio recording. Of course, both Sherwood and Squire were big parts of that original rendition, so it makes sense.